Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae Ep. 5: Cicada

It’s a definite improvement over last episode, but I’m still failing to see the continuity in this series. Sure, all of the cases come out of Yuzuki’s school, but really they’re all one-shot episodes. Even Futakomori had a big arc at the end that pulled everything together over multiple episodes. I’m just waiting for this to happen in the third season, and hoping that it does happen sooner rather than later. There are certainly lots of questions that have yet to be answered.

Summary:

Yuzuki bumps into Katase and breaks the beakers she was carrying for class. Instead of reprimanding them, however, Niiyama-sensei simply warns them to be more careful next time. Yuzuki thinks that Niiyama is one of the nicest teachers on campus, while Niiyama reveals to Ichimoku Ren how good a student Katase is, always getting her work done on time, etc. After grading her papers in the evening, the phone rings; Niiyama answers, but the other side is completely silent.

The next day, Katase’s grandmother is at school to address Niiyama’s supposed reprimands against Katase. Niiyama denies that she did anything to her granddaughter, but the old woman would have nothing of it. However, Katase’s grandmother only expresses a hint of annoyance and disgust at the teaching corps before taking her leave. Katase later tells Niiyama that her grandmother can be a bit high-strung sometimes, and promises to straighten things out with her. Ichimoku Ren, observing both meetings, rejoins the rest of Jigoku Tsuushin, where they muse over whether ‘monster parents’ exist or not.

In the early hours of the morning, Niiyama receives another call; this time, the grandmother responds. Niiyama, however, isn’t in a talkative mood at 2 AM. While Katase covers her ears, her grandmother reveals she knows of the rumors that Niiyama confessed to one of her students, and combined with her rather brusque nature in the early morning, leads to Niiyama slamming the phone on her and disconnecting it.

At school, the grandmother is now handing out flyers that are basically hanging Niiyama out to dry. She’s even plastered them all over her apartment door, leading Niiyama to start researching the Jigoku Tsuushin. The next teacher’s meeting, everybody expresses their support for Niiyama, but it doesn’t look like she’s calming down much. She does, however, talk to Yuzuki for a while, and then decides to go to Katase’s house to see if she can calm things down before she has to do something more…drastic.

Katase answers the door and leads Niiyama through the oddly furnished house. Katase says that her grandmother just needs someone whom she can blame for problems, but is actually a nice person. Niiyama sees a picture of both Katase and her grandmother just before grandma arrives home. Her entire demeanor changes when she sees Niiyama in her house, and screams for her to get out. Katase, instead of clearing things up, tells a lie that Niiyama had come to threaten her.

Niiyama leaves, but Katase catches up with her and apologizes for lying. However, she isn’t completely regretful. She believes that Niiyama would be okay with her status as Katase’s scapegoat because she’s an adult already. This throws NiIyama off the edge, and without waiting for Ai’s full speech, Niiyama damns Katase to hell. The next day, a worried grandmother wonders where her granddaughter went, and Yuzuki notices the sign of hell on her teacher.

Impression:

Better than the last episode, but then again, I’d watch pretty much anything over the last one. I don’t think this is in the realm of ‘believable’ yet, but it’s coming close again. It’s amazing what the mind of a child can think up, and how glorified being an adult can be. Out of all the season 3 damnations, this one is definitely one of the most deserved. I half expected the grandmother to be sent to Hell, but it looks like this will be the first time anybody’s actually thought their revenge through and sent the right person to Hell instead. With Katase being sent off to Hell, it’s a much more satisfying (in a sense) end.

So far, we’ve had a lot of issues with young Jigoku Tsuushin users as well as transgressors. Seems like a whole youth movement this season, doesn’t it? I’m interested if they’re playing on the irrationality most kids still suffer from until they hit their 20s. This isn’t Futakomori, where you have an entire neighborhood going at each other for personal gain. No, here are kids who believe they have a sense of justice, or can be shielded from the world by placing others before them. Here are kids who have their heroes fall before their eyes, and have their deepest hatreds consume them. I would assume more is on the way, as so far everything has some sort of relationship to Yuzuki’s school.

I going to go out on a limb and say that this might not be the same Enma Ai as previous seasons. I can’t think of any reason why she, after being released from her torment of guiding souls to Hell, would go back and do the same thing for…nothing? It doesn’t make sense. What happened to Ai’s grandma, anyway? Here’s an interesting thought – what if it’s all a plan to make Yuzuki the next Jigoku Shoujo? I expected the little brat to take over, but it’s clear that Kikuri has more fun playing around than doing a job. Is it a fragment of Ai that is trying to name her successor? I have no idea, this is all pretty much in the air still, and I hope they answer things by the end of the season.

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5 Responses to Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae Ep. 5: Cicada

i had a crazy thought that yuzuki might very well be the next jigoku shoujo as well. but i’d prefer enma ai over her.

it also occured to me that even though i was happy that enma ai was back in this season as jigoku shoujo, it doesn’t make sense, like you said for her to continue doing her job as jigoku shoujo because it seemed like her parents’ souls were released last season and she was freed from her job as well.

it’s pretty confusing. i think they’re centralizing around this school now because all seasons have been revolving around just about anyone in the general population. like the world out there. things that go on in schools now are probably one of the biggest efff-ups ever, so i guess they’re trying to bring across their message on that.

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